


Moving On Without You

by hollyhock13



Series: Whumptober 2019 [13]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Robin (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, It’s Kon not Bruce, Prompt: Tear-Stained, References to Depression, Tim Drake Has Mental Health Issues, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Whumptober 2019, because liking comics means having to clarify which character is temporarily dead, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 04:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21069176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyhock13/pseuds/hollyhock13
Summary: Supermen aren’t supposed to die





	Moving On Without You

**Author's Note:**

> :) I have no apologies left so here we are.
> 
> Thanks to [@Ursapharoh15](%E2%80%9C) for the title and a quick proofread. Again, all mistakes are my own, thank you anyway.

Tim has been huddled in his room for over a week now, and it’s worrying Bruce more than he would like to admit. He’d never admit it, and he’d never bring it up to the boy in the first place, but he’s reacting worse now than he did when his father died.

Of course, the grief may be cumulative with the losses so close to one another. That alone breaks Bruce’s heart. Tim had only just started to heal, and now it is compounded by another loss.

Bruce hesitates before the door. Every time he has knocked prior, he has politely, but firmly, been told to leave. He knows Tim deserves his own space, but he also knows the boy isn’t always best at determining his own needs. This time, he knocks once and opens the door. 

“Tim?” He asks gently in the darkened room.

A lump of tangled blankets on the bed shifts a bit, belying the boy’s position. Bruce walks softly to the bedside and looks for Tim’s face among the blankets.

“How are you doing?” He questions the tear-stained cheeks.

He gets a weak shrug in reply. It hurts that Bruce doesn’t know how to fix this.

“I’m sorry about Kon-El.”

The previously limp body tenses at the name.

“I know how much he meant to you. He was your best friend.”

The face turns away from him.

“Unfortunately,” Bruce hesitates for a moment before pressing on, “I have some amount of experience with that situation. Losing your invulnerable best friend.”

A breath, and Tim turns to face him once more. “I’m telling Clark you said that,” he jokes weakly. 

Bruce sighs. The indignities he suffers for his children. “Yes, Clark is my best friend. And if you remember, Kon-El was introduced when Clark was presumed dead.”

Tim shifts until he’s lying on his side facing Bruce. “I kind of forgot about that,” he admits, “that you lost him too.”

“I...have not. He is back, but it isn’t quite the same. I am more conscious of his weaknesses, his flaws.” Bruce takes a moment to breathe. This is not something he enjoys speaking about. “When he was gone, it was as though the world had lost something of great value. Not just Superman, but Clark Kent. I think that applies here too. The Titans have lost Superboy, but you have lost Kon-El, Conner, your best friend. And that is bound to hurt.”

Tim turns over onto his back, stares at the ceiling.

Bruce winces. He wasn’t trying to bring the hurt back up.

Tim sniffs, once, then twice. “I know it’s selfish,” he says quietly, “but if I could trade Superboy’s powers for Kon to come back as just Conner Kent, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“That isn’t selfish, Tim.”

“Yeah it is. He’d hate being just Conner.”

“Why is that?”

“He loves—d. He loved being Superboy. That was the first name he’d even had, you know.”

Bruce did. “Really.”

“Yeah. Clark told him he wanted him to be a part of the family and named him Superboy and Kon-El. He was so happy.” The tears start flowing again, and Tim presses a piece of black fabric—no. A black shirt to his face.

“I think he’d be happy just to be back, Tim. It isn’t selfish to want that.”

“Yes it is.” Anything he might want to say is interrupted by a fresh sob.

Bruce sighs and bundles the teenager into his arms. “It’s normal to want him back. You love him, just like you love the rest of your team. I’m so sorry he’s gone.”

Tim sobs. Bruce rocks him as he cries, then rages, then finally goes limp in defeat.

“It hurts, Tim, and I know that. But it does get easier to bear.”

“Does it?”

“Yes. It really will.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the black shirt is Conner’s


End file.
